I bought a sunbeam iron at a yard sale in 1972 ,and it still works like a dream. had the cord replaced cleaned up the face plate, no steam though,, but no holes to get caught on the seams. so i have a spray bottle also. i have a shark by uro-pro. and i like this one i use it all the time it has the automatic shut off ... i have a rowenta i dont use it dosnt get hot enough. Dottie Bug anyone want the rowenta will sale it .

I have a cheap iron from Wal greens. It is light and costly ones too heavy.

I have a Rowenta which it O K but not on my great list. I bought a Shark at a garage sale and loved it. It bit the dust probably after getting dropped too many times. I am going to try the cheap B&D that everyone is talking about, I like a light iron. I did have a Oreck cordless and donated it, way too heavy.

I had a specialty iron, can't remember the name, but you couldn't stand it on the heel, you had to put it on it's special rubber mat. Heavy and awkward. Grrr. I now have a Procter Silex and like the Creative Seamstress, I prefer it. I think I've had it three years. It's light and turns off automaticly. It also heats up fast and I paid less than $15 at KMart for it.

We got an Oreck sweeper a few years ago, and they gave us an iron for free. I just got it out of the box and started using it last week. So far I like it, and it can be cordless or not, depending on how you flip a switch.

I use a cheap one from Wal-mart, seems to work find even after 7 years.

I have to say I love my Rowenta. I have very hard water and it takes it without a problem. I agree with getting a stainless sole-plate rather than a teflon sole-plate. Good luck deciding. Purses and irons are the two hardest things for me to make a decision on!!!

I have an Oliso and like it for the fact that it pops up because I had a tendency to leave it set and scorch my ironing board cover. I never put water in it becasue I use the spray bottle if I need water.

I bought a new Rowenta in November ( after I knocked my old one off the board and broke it), it quit working in December. Takeing it back this weekend to Macys (store is 200 miles away) Using an old B&D now, but its not heavy enough. I don't know what to get. Irons are such an important part of quilting. I don't remember having this problem when irons were made in the USA.

Just my 2 cents worth, get something between 10 and 15 dollars like I did at Wallmart. Mine is still working great after 6 years,and also the steam works. I had 4 girls who all used it for school, church, and friends. Seems to be the cheaper the better. Wouldn't change mine for anything even though I thought about it once!

Mine died Tuesday. Drat! Went to Wallmart and the only one they had that didn't shut itself off (which I find really anoying)was a $10 cheepie from Proctor Silex. It has NO frills but I just cranked it up and it seems to do the job!
I do like the wind up cord storage models, but they did not have any without auto shut off. I did find an oversized wide ironing board (made in USA!) for $40 which I think will help with the stability issues I was having....iron kept crashing off when the darling kitty jumped up to see what was going on.
Good luck on your search.

What brand of over-size ironing board made in the USA did you find?

I had 2 Rowentas that I had repair many times. One that I used and the other in the shop being repaired. I finally gave up and got a gravity feed iron with a teflon shoe. Best money that I spent. Around $150.00 but it has a 1 1/4 gallon tank for water and will put in or take out any wrinkle there is and then some. I have had it for almost 5 years and only recently replaced the teflon shoe. Also I can iron on velvet and not have to use a pressing cloth or anything. It is a Consew and I know that if the heating element ever goes out in it I can easily replace it myself for around $15.00.

It's a Wall Mart brand "Mainstays" 48 x 18 "wide-top" and it's really tall too! Ajustable to up to 39" which is fabulous for us tall gals. Seems to be very stable.

Thanks for sharing that info. Will have to check it out.

Not heard the best on the Oleso. Had a Black-N-Decker auto shut off and hated it. I always had to wait for it to re heat. Love the Rowentas I have had. Still using my older one and have a new one in a box not used yet. Also have the gererator one can't remeber the name but it was almost $400 but had for 8 or 9 years and still going strong, got it to iron all my dh shirts, love the extra steam cuts the ironing time in half. I also have a cheaper on I leave in my camper trailer was like $12.99 at WalMart. I think you just have to try diff ones and what your budget will allow. But I really like the Rowentas and I will say I had to have the steam tank replaced on the first on for it leaked, but was fine with the new tank. Have the new one in the box and the one I am using is at least 10 years old...

Well, I took the largest consensus vote and bought a B&D at Walmart this pm. I opted for the $20 model that has the stainless steel plate. I like the weight, and it has a larger surface. I don't like cut off feature, but it is 8 min. when left on the rest, and that seems do-able to me. I also didn't much love the green color, but figured I could live with it. ( : The blue one was just too small for general ironing for me. Would have been great for small pieces, but I need to iron DH shirts, too.
I also bought a small table top board that was wide, and a great size, but it was all made in China, I hate, hate to say.
Thanks to everyone for all the help. Unless I post back with tears, it will all be happy!

Never though about the water bottle, I hate the spewing and sputtering when I put the water in the iron